So what are your suggestions? Nothing fancy - something for us simpletons - preferably Windows.

Here are a couple:

OpenOffice.org = supposed to work on Windows, Mac, also, and Linux

Free, donation requested. Operates on multi platforms.

Excellent WP program comparable to WORD; can save docs in multi formats including various WORD formats.
Excellent Spreadsheet
OK Power Point type Program
Not so great Database

Microsoft Works 9.0

$25 - $49 if you can find it. Seems that MS may have withdrawn the product? Comes with some computers. For the low price, you get a little tiny ad in the lower right hand corner.

Very good, simplified WP Program
OK Spreadsheet
Really good simple and easy to use home type Database. For example, I keep addresses, etc., of all Colorado Legislators, Christmas lists. Very easy mailmerge for letters, labels, etc. I just did 100 easy letters and envelopes to all Colorado Legislators.

This has replaced, finally, the databases I kept on Symantec Q&A. MSAccess is FAR too complex for me.

WS_FTP95 - do a google search, you can likely find it free. This program was designed for W95, but I use it daily to transfer files/updates to my web sites. It worked on W95, W98, XP and now on W7. I've tried others - too complex, too much of a learning curve for me.

So, any suggestions?

If you can't play Angry Birds with it, I'm afraid I'm not much help.

Now that I am not a working person I am going more and more with Google. Google docs. Google spreadsheets. Gmail. Picassa for pictures. All sitting there in the cloud.

cloud computing bothers me. AOL used to keep files and web sites, then one day - POOF!! - it all went away. There was some notice, but a lot of folks didn't learn about it and lost everything.

Google could do the same.

Also, of course, is the issue of privacy - it seems to me it would be a PRIME hacker accomplishment to get into Google, et al.

I use Open Office but only for a couple of spreadsheets and docs. Don't do any database stuff with it. But I am satisfied with what it does.

I'm a Mac user so my comments won't apply for PC folks.

Open Office: I find its presentation (i.e. PowerPoint-like) software impossible to use, worse than unhelpful in that it does weird stuff to my files. Is there any useful documentation for this thing?

Very basic, easy to use, free database program for Mac is Eagle Data:
https://www.eaglesoft.de/eagle/eagledata.html#1

All in all, I agree with goldfinch that the Google apps are probably the way to go for those looking for free, user-friendly stuff.

I agree with that 100 percent. I want my data in my possession.

LibreOffice https://www.libreoffice.org/ is another "flavor" of OpenOffice. After Oracle bought Sun some of the OpenOffice developers became concerned about Oracle's intentions and forked the OpenOffice code into another open source project called LibreOffice. It is essentially the same as OpenOffice with a few more features.

For photo editing GIMP https://www.gimp.org/ is the open source answer to PhotoShop.

Audacity https://audacity.sourceforge.net/ is a great sound editor and recorder.

Are we saying MS Office is hard to use?

I don't know how useful any of it is but:

OpenOffice
https://wiki.services.openoffice.org/...Guide_Chapters

LibreOffice
https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/documentation/

images also for free

www.irfanview.com

Yes, I use audacity.

We use the program below extensively for my a cappella singing group learning new songs. One of our guys uses about a 4 step scanning etc., process to transfer our sheet music into our various vocal parts.

https://anvilstudio.com/

Older versions are better (at least for us) than newer versions. We keep rejecting the automatic update notices - they removed some of the features in the latest versions.

If you have the $$$ it is fine.

I have 6 computers on which I keep software. I need cheap or inexpensive.

I've been using Melody Assistant https://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/melody.htm for midi and music notation for 11 or 12 years. It was something like $20 back then with free upgrades for life. I think it's only $25 now.

Each member of our singing group (9) uses Anvil Studio to play the final product, not to make the product. Using older versions of Anvil, we can play our own parts alone, or with another part, or all 4 parts together. The words are there on the screen, also. We don't enter any notes by keyboard. Everything is by a scanning/conversion process, with hand entries only to clean up mistakes, missing info.

Each of us downloads from a web site where all our songs are kept. This makes it great for new folks to learn the basic notes of our songs.

It is really a uniques process - doing music backwards, from sheet music to playing the parts on the sheet music on computer..

Actually it is, the main interface for Open Office, has always been the same, where as every version of MS Office seems to have a completely different interface, the latest ribbon bars are horribly complex to use.....

Cute PDF is a very handy pdf printer. https://www.cutepdf.com/ The free version is quite ok.

primo pdf to convert to pdf

cnet.com > downloads is a great and reliable source for virus free good quality free/shareware

AVG is an excellent free virus, etc., tool - get it at CNET.COM it updates daily

Avast! is great and free anti-virus. Voptx is a great defrag tool.

Google apps are great, and I think there would be significant warning were Google be about to go the way of AOL. And, unlike Google, AOL was never know for its technical aptitude, nor its infrastructure. Cloud computing is the future. You'd have to be very careful with your own network to match the robustness of what Google does. Once I get everything in the cloud (my PC is XP and thus won't work with iCloud) I'll likely cancel my Carbonite backup subscription. I used SecondCopy for years to backup from one PC to another, but I've been taking computers out of the network in favor of devices with limited storage (iPads, iPhones) and that approach is no longer practical for me. I hope to never buy another PC, and to no longer worry about where my data is, physically.

Based on my experience as a professional in the field, everything mentioned above with the exception of MS Works and perhaps Voptx is good stuff. Voptx may well be excellent but I don't know enough about it to comment. MS Office is okay if you run Windows and will pay the price.

All that Crap that collects on the computer and slows it down--Difficult to get rid of and expensive.

Just used CCleaner.com for the first time and it seems to have increased the speed of the computer. Lost all the automatic logins but they are easy to replace.

There is a pay for service on this programme but I used the "Free" version.

Open Office is compatable with MS office but I have the genuine full suite. Both my daughters use Open office and no problems.

No, but it is expensive.

+5 and I was impressed enough that I sent the author the requested donation and a (monetary) tip.

I've used the free converter version of this in the workplace and it is excellent even though the name is kinda stupid.

Let's see..Google Earth and Sketchup are free downloads, but you just have to disable the updaters which are resource hogs. Even Bentley Microstation V8 is a free download with minor conditions and is the best CAD package available (not to disparage Autocad which is also good, only not free that I know of).

After what seems a lifetime I've lost patience with computers and just don't like to sit in front of them for very long anymore.

I would have posted this one if you hadn't. Irfanview is great for viewing and simple processing of images. So easy to align, crop, color correct, resize and save photos.

I do 99.9% of all my PC based photo manipulation with IView.